Hello: Scott Sypniewski

In a commitment that caught pretty much everyone off guard, Ottawa (IL) long snapper Scott Sypniewki has committed to Michigan on a full scholarship, as first announced by long-snapping guru Chris Rubio and confirmed by multiple outlets. Sypniewski is the 21st commit in the class of 2013 and (surprise!) the first long snapper. A bit more info on his commitment comes via Scout's Allen Trieu ($):

"They said they need one. They just lost their starter, Tom Pomarico. They have one guy who is going to be a senior and they were going to bring in two walk-ons. They've seen my film and knew I was good enough to start there and that's why they offered me a scholarship."

No further explanation is necessary, I'm sure.

GURU RATINGS

Scout

Rivals

ESPN

247 Sports

NR LS

NR LS

NR LS

NR LS

Sypniewski, unsurprisingly, is not rated by any of the recruiting services. Chris Rubio Long Snapping, however, specializes in this sort of thing, and they've got him as the #2 long snapper in the 2013 class (Taybor Pepper was 6th) and a five-star prospect. Sypniewski is listed at 6'1", 230.

The above link comprises almost all of the available scouting information on Sypniewski that a 15-minutes Google-stalk could turn up. It is, shall we say, laudatory:

Sypniewski is a man on a mission. Body is looking thick and muscular. He is moving well and snapping rockets. Attitude on this kid is amazing. Tell him to do something and consider it done. He has a good time but is full of rage when he is snapping. Love it. Ball is smooth, on target and crisp. He gets set and BOOM! the ball is in your hands. Very impressed with him and he is a no brainer scholarship kid!

Sypniewski is just flat out fantastic! Ball is like a missle yet very easy to catch. Movement is flawless and he is snapping with ease. Looks like he is not even trying but, before you blink, the ball is right on your hip. Accuracy, consistency and speed are all excellent. A tad lighter on his feet could bump him up and I am being picky. Sypniewski is terrific and is snapping with a TON of confidence. I am fully expecting him to stick his chest out and dominate in Vegas. 4/12

There's also this, er, juicy tidbit [emphasis mine]:

Excellent job by Sypniewski. Body is becoming athletic and thick. Huge legs and butt. Great for a Long Snapper. Ball, when he snaps the ball HARD, is absolutely fantastic. Blocks extremely well for his age when he gets back. Tremendous personality. Does a great job of improving every single time. Great worker and will be a great teammate to those around him.

Recruiting!

The Wolverine's Andy Reid caught up with Rubio—who's been coaching Sypniewski since 2009—shortly after his commitment for additional insight ($):

Rubio said Sypniewski's strengths are his size and strength in the blocking game and, most importantly, the speed and fluidity of his snaps.

"He's fantastic," Rubio said. "His snap is just so smooth, but it's still a such a rapid movement. You almost think there's no way it could be coming this quick, because it's still so smooth. It's just boom, hits you."

"I would like to see him work on his footwork, continuing to get downfield after the snap. But, in all honesty, he really doesn't need much right now to make the step up to the next level."

Sounds like he could be an early contributor, as current snapper/folk hero Jareth Glanda will be a redshirt senior when Sypniewski gets on campus. I won't really attempt to add anything else to the scouting of a long snapper, especially since—as you'll see below—there's an astounding amount of film on the kid. He's got a 15-yard snap time of .69 seconds, [Ed-S: This is 44 miles per hour. Four FAKES out of FIVE!] which I imagine is very good but have zero context for saying so.

UPDATE: There are a couple of other long-snapper rankings out there, and it appears there are large disparities between the respective lists—if I had to guess, these rankings vary wildly depending on whose camps these prospects attend. Sypniewski comes in at #14 on Kohl's Professional Camps snapper rankings, and indeed, you must attend one of their camps to be included. Here's their writeup:

Scott has a solid frame with very good mechanics. His overall SS and LS accuracy is good and he is consistent with his snap speed. Scott finished with an average snap time of .74 seconds at the Midwest Showcase Camp in December of 2011 with his best snap time recorded at .70 seconds. Scott has good footwork and a quick ball release which allows him to get back into protection quickly. He has great lower body explosiveness with good ball rotation. Scott will be a good fit for any protection scheme.

Prokicker.com, meanwhile, doesn't have Sypniewski in their top 25 for the class of 2013, though if his reported snap times are close to accurate, he's should probably be in the top couple spots.

[H/T to mgouser goblueritzy92 for dropping those links in the comments.]

OFFERS

Sypniewski's Scout profile, which probably was created 15 minutes ago, lists no other suitors besides Michigan.

STATS

Um, stats?

FAKE 40 TIME

None listed, unfortunately. All of the FAKEs.

VIDEO

Yes, we've got highlights:

Oh, and it doesn't end there. For 15(!) more videos of Sypniewski snapping, click here.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

When Sypniewski arrives on campus, Michigan will have Glanda as a redshirt senior at long snapper as well as 2012 preferred walk-on Tyler Tokarsky. Tokarsky, for what it's worth, says his plans to attend Michigan have not changed despite the news of Sypniewski's commitment. Sypniewski and Tokarsky should battle for the starting job in 2014, then hopefully we'll never hear from either again barring any improbable catches on fake field goals.

If you remember, Michigan did have a second preferred walk-on snapper lined up for the class of 2012, Taybor Pepper, but he chose to attend Michigan State when Mark Dantonio offered him a scholarship.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

The Wolverines now sit at 21 commitments in a class that should reach 23-24, though one has to wonder if there's any concerns about extra attrition given the offer to a position normally filled by walk-ons or players who change positions. Michigan will likely still take a wide receiver—there's still a spot reserved for Laquon Treadwell, at least—and they could also add a cornerback, running back, or strongside defensive end.

I don't understand the offer but I'm certainly not in a position to question Hoke on recruiting strategy or available scholarship usage. I believe in his short time as Head Coach, Hoke has earned the right to do as he sees fit when it comes to building our football program.

" Michigan Men fight till the end...even in failure we succeed! " The Team! The Team! The Team! GBOD

+100 ... how many cycles of doubt have to be heaped on Hoke before some realize the guy knows what he's doing? When he was announced as HC there were doubts whether he could recruit the state of Michigan, let alone the midwest or nationally. He proved those doubts unfounded.

Oh ... and long snapping? Boring and automatic ... until one is muffed with the punter backed up in the endzone.

No way this was some epic screw-up by Hoke. There's reason behind this. We just don't know what that is yet.

Agreed. I'd understand if it was January, but in June? Indiana doesn't even have a commit, yet. There's plenty of time to grab a long-snapper later if you have extra scholarships you don't feel like banking.

Denard has spent the offseason working really hard and smiling at people.

This is definitely a WTF moment for me. Yes, I get it teams need long snappers, but come on. I'm taking this is instant karma for just riding my good friend who's a sparty for stealing our walk-on long snapper & giving him a scholarship:(

You do realize that we still have room in our class for all of the guys that you mentioned? And, assuming some attrition (which there always is), treadwell too.

This is a good move. If this kid is as good as his coach thinks, it is a huge asset. We have a seen the effect of bad special teams. Delivering the ball .5 second earlier and in the perfect spot can make the difference between a rushed kick that either goes out of bounds or is returned for yards and a booming, field position changing punt. If this results in 1-2 kicks per game being better than they would have otherwise been (i.e. Two instances of better field position or the avoidance of a return) I am totally fine with this move.

It's called sarcasm. And I'm not going to apologize because I don't follow everything the coaching staff does like a little puppy just because I'm a fan. They have done a great job recruiting, but this still boggles my mind. A long snapper being a HUGE asset? That is a bit of an overstatement I would say. I saw somewhere they might play 13 plays at most & this is a position that is routinely handled by walk-ons without any hiccups. If this kid is such a beast & obviously jumped on this offer within 3 seconds of receiving it...Why not wait until later in the recruiting cycle when actual IMPACT players situations have played out & then offering him?? Pretty sure if he were walking on or offered by a lesser B10 program (or any program for that matter) he would still jump on a UM offer.

The kid sounds like he's very good at what he does. Doesn't mean I have to be thrilled about it & can't joke that this is about as exciting as watching the Pistons play. Dude is a long snapper, pretty sure he wasn't expecting an ESPN CFB Live special to show his long snapping delivery technique & times. He's probably smiling ear to ear that he's a long snapper & just got a full ride to The University of Michigan fer god sakes no matter what people are saying --- I'd be walking around saying "I'm Scott Sypniewski biatch - Get on deez nutz."

Players whose offers and/or commitments were questioned (often vociferously) on this board include David Dawson, Gareon Conley, and Ondre Pipkins. Sione Houma's commitment just about broke the internet.

I'm not saying I fully understand this any more than any of you. But remember: the coaches know more about these things generally, and they know much more about the big recruiting picture for this year. Patience may be in order.

However, Dawson was a 4 star at a position of great need and had a pretty decent offer list. We had been hearing about Pipkins for a while before he committed, and he also was a 4-star on a couple sites IIRC before he truly "blew up". Conley was a four star to Scout when he committed. I am not saying that it is a wasted scholarship, as I think the coaching staff has certainly proved they can evaluate talent, but the cases you listed were just slightly different from this one, considering the position Sypniewski plays.

I still think that there will be a couple of surprises regarding attrition, as is almost always the case. The people saying we have no spots left for a McQuay/Fuller type don't really have any good insight into what may happen in the future.

Don't forget the shitstorm when Shawn Conway committed. Then when he was ineligible and our receiver depth dropped to nil, people start inquiring whether he can qualify from whatever hole in the wall JC he's at.

When did anyone hate on Ondre Pipkins? I think that the board was generally receptive to the idea of a defensive tackle rated 4* everywhere except ESPN, particularly because at that time we were in dire need of them.

look at it this way, it's all about parity. after the top 2-3 teams there is a lot of parity in college football right now, so its even more imperative that you excel in every aspect of the game to have the definitive edge over the other team......you know what, i have no effing clue as to why we did this

...for the reassuring Kate Upton posts because after reading about this kid's "big butt & thighs" and then stuff like this:

"He's fantastic," Rubio said. "His snap is just so smooth, but it's still a such a rapid movement. You almost think there's no way it could be coming this quick, because it's still so smooth. It's just boom, hits you."

...I was almost certain that Mgoblog was about to come prancing out of the closet.

I'm opposed to the practice of offering scholarships to fullbacks, as well. Somewhere there must be a TE or RB or OL who couldn't hack it who would make a serviceable FB. Same deal applies to long-snappers.

Denard has spent the offseason working really hard and smiling at people.

on most sites are capped to the top 20 (?) players in a class so this shouldn't affect our overall position. I am surprised that nobody among the recruiting gurus seemed to have inside info that this was a 2013 need.

I say welcome to team 134! The kid looks good wearing Maize and Blue out on our field in the photo.

This is only an issue because we have such an amazing class. Hoke must know something and has decided it's worth it to offer a LS (maybe Cravens had secret long-snapping skills and it's always been a huge priority). Staff must feel that we'll be able to sign all the 5 and 4* players we can land or that the walk-ons simply weren't going to get the job done. I don't know or understand the thinking, but I'll take this class as is. At this point, we're playing with house money. I'm choosing to be both pleased and confused.

We offer plenty of schollies to guys that end up never seeing the field. Offering one every four years to a guy who will start for four years isn't that bad of an idea. As soon as we have a 40+ MPH windy game day, you'll be glad we have him.

"It would be a travesty, it would be ridiculous to all of a sudden come back and get the feeling back, get the health back, feel good again and then all of a sudden go throw some other colors on my shirt and go coach."